'The hope and light of our family': Bennlyn Burke's loved ones pay tribute as Andrew Innes found guilty of murder
Bennylyn Burke and her 2-year-old daughter Jellica were killed sometime between February and March 2021
Last updated 6th Feb 2023
The family of Bennylyn and Jellica Burke have paid tribute to them after Andrew Innes was found guilty of their murders.
In a statement made through the Scottish prosecution service's Victim and Information Advice (VIA) service they said:
"Bennylyn was the hope and light of our family. That light has been cruelly snuffed out".
"Bennylyn had bright ideas and big dreams. She bravely left home to seek a better future in a country far away. Instead, she found the worst cruelty we could ever imagine at the hands of someone she trusted. We shall be forever haunted by what happened to her in this far off place such a long way from us, her family.
"In the Philippines, poor families like ours very often have daughters and sisters who seek to fulfil their dreams for a better future abroad. Never do we imagine it will end in such terror and horror.
"We cannot drive from our minds what happened to her and what happened to Jellica, or the fear they must have felt after experiencing violence from Andrew Innes. A big part of our family has been torn from us. We shall never see Bennylyn and Jellica again. We shall never know our beloved Jellica or ever see her grow up.
"We pray for the child who suffered the cruelty of Andrew Innes. We are happy that she is being cared for and recovering from her trauma. Women and girls must be protected from predators like Andrew Innes.
"There is nothing that can restore Bennylyn and Jellica to us. But the jury's guilty verdict for murder provides some comfort to our family and friends and brings justice for Bennylyn and Jellica."
Police response
Detective Chief Inspector Graham Smith said in almost 30 years of police "the depravity shown by Andrew Innes was beyond anything" he or colleagues had seen before.
"Not only did he callously take the lives of a young mother and an innocent child, he then set out to escape justice by burying their bodies beneath his kitchen floor," he said.
"His actions showed no regard for human life, or for the suffering and anguish he brought to their loved ones."
Guilty verdict
Andrew Innes has been found guilty of murdering a woman and her two-year-old daughter at his Dundee home, as well as sexually abusing and raping another girl.
The 52-year-old was found guilty by a jury of murdering Bennylyn Burke, 25, and Jellica Burke after a five-day trial at the High Court in Edinburgh, which also found he sexually abused the toddler and raped another child at his Troon Avenue address between February 20 and March 5 2021.
Innes, who gave evidence in his defence, told the trial he was "apocalyptically angry" when he struck Ms Burke with a hammer and stabbed her on February 23 and around two to three days later killed the toddler.
He had denied all charges against him and lodged a special defence of diminished responsibility, but the jury of eight men and seven women dismissed this on Monday after around two and a half hours of deliberation.
Innes repeatedly hit the woman on the back of the head with a hammer, then stabbed her with a samurai sword. The toddler died of asphyxiation.
A jury has been told it must find Andrew Innes guilty of murdering a woman and her two-year-old daughter by the trial judge.
Andrew Innes, 52, is accused of murdering Bennylyn Burke, 25, and Jellica Burke at his Dundee home between February 20 and March 5 2021, as well as sexually abusing the toddler and raping another girl.
He admitted to killing them but denied their murder, and had submitted a defence of lacking criminal responsibility and diminished responsibility.
But in his summing up Lord Beckett told the jury at the High Court in Edinburgh that these could no longer be upheld after the evidence of Dr Gordan Cowan as to the accused's mental state.
Lord Becket told the jury on Monday: "I'm directing you on charges one and two (the murder charges) you will return a verdict of guilty."